Formless and Fearless
by Seeker of the Soul
Summary: AU. Death Gods all start somewhere. These Death Gods started at the bottom of the barrel and will have to work their way up through trials and tribulations. Thus the blade will be wielded.
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I don't own any aspect of Bleach. It is owned by Kubo Tite. I do however own all the original characters that appear in this chapter, with the exception of Sanman Nonki.

**Formless and Fearless**

**Chapter One: How To Kill A Hollow 101**

There are times when the world is at peace and times when it is consumed by violence. Yet even the brightest minds of the world are unaware of the violence that goes on right in front of their faces.

You see, none of them known of this violence because they cannot see it. It has often been said that we fear that which we cannot see, but if you are also unaware of its existence you cannot fear it.

What is there to fear? What exists in this cold, dispassionate universe that should be feared but remains unnoticed by mankind? It is that which is without mercy, that which is without a soul, which craves the souls of others to feel that hole inside them.

What is there to fear besides fear itself?

Hollows.

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"Now, can anyone here tell me precisely what a Hollow is?" The teacher, a man who appeared to be in his thirties with short cut black hair and a full beard, looked out over the class of students.

While he wore black hakama and haori, garb that made him look something like a samurai, the rest of the class wore similar clothing, only the hakama were red and the haori white with red stripes on the sleeves for the women, and the men had the same with a grey replacing the red. And it was to these students that he addressed the question.

Finally someone in one of the farther back rows raised their hand tentatively, and the teacher pointed at them. "Yasashi Togo, please stand and deliver your answer."

The young man did so, revealing himself to be surprisingly short, just barely taller than the sitting students even while standing. His cheeks were reddened at having to stand and speak to the class, but he got over it, dipping his head down so his black bangs covered his eyes. "A Hollow is a spirit of a human being that was either consumed by negative emotions, had its soul devoured by other Hollows, or had unfinished business in the mortal world. It is a negative spirit that eats souls, a monster instead of a ghost."

The teacher nodded, and immediately Togo dropped down into his seat, happy to have finished. "That's a fairly accurate sentiment. Of course Hollows are far more complex than that, and there are various different types of Hollows, as well as classes of Hollows. Now I'm sure you're all wondering why I bring this up, since all of you are in your final year at the Central Spiritual Arts Academy and know about Hollows by now."

There was a general murmur of acknowledgment from the class, and the teacher raised one hand, immediately putting an end to the chatter. "The reason for this is that in one month those of you who have done well enough will graduate, and a lucky few may be chosen to become members of the elite Gotei-13. Before that happens, you are going to be sorely tested."

Again the class started to talk amongst themselves, wondering what the tests were going to be. They had all heard from upperclassmen of previous years that the last month was the most difficult at the Academy, but none of them would explain what it involved. "As you all know, all of you have been given your own weapons. Your zanpaktou is your life line if you are to become true Death Gods. Today is the day where you will test them against full-fledged Hollows, rather than the weak Demi-Hollows you've previously faced."

They all knew the difference between Demi-Hollows and Hollows, and they knew that currently their spiritual power was not very impressive compared to members of the Gotei-13. But even as general members of one of the thirteen squads they would be expected to fight Hollows. "The numbers that you found on your desks today are the numbers for your group. Each person is to find the other members of their group and then meet out by the Senkaimon. From there you will go to the mortal world to face Hollows."

"Class dismissed!"

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"Who are they?" The students gathered at the Senkaimon all watched two Death Gods approaching the front, grinning broadly at the attention they were getting. Yet not a single person there knew who they were, or why they were there.

"I think they're here to make sure nobody gets killed by the Hollows. That means they're probably members of the Gotei-13. And I can believe it to, can you feel that huge spiritual pressure from them?" Similar comments from other students made the two Death God's grins grow even larger.

Finally the two Death Gods reached the Senkaimon and stopped in front of it, turning around to face them all. One of them stepped out in front of the other, waving at the students to get their attention. "Ahoy students! Welcome to 'Beating Up On Hollows 101'! I hope we have a lot of fun together today!"

His massive grin and jocular tone brought a bunch of nervous chuckles from the students, who couldn't quite tell if he was being serious or not. His bright blue eyes and wild untamed black hair didn't help matters either. Murmurs ran through the crowd. "Is this guy really a member of the Gotei-13?"

Suddenly the Death God snapped his fingers, looking as if he had just remembered something. "Ah! I almost forgot to introduce myself and my buddy. I'm Tanbatsu Noriyuki, Third Chair of Third Squad. Nice to meetcha!"

At the words 'third chair' the students began whispering to each other even louder. They all knew what that meant. It meant that of his entire squad he was the third most powerful person, and third highest in rank. "He's really the Third Squad's third chair?"

There was a cough, and Noriyuki glanced to his side where one of the Death Gods standing by the gate stood, hand over his mouth. "Uhh…sir…you're in Eighth Squad, not Third Squad."

Noriyuki put a hand behind his hand, laughing out loud as the students collectively sweatdropped at him. "Haha, guess I forgot. I usually get it confused, since I'm Third Chair and all. Well, anyways, I'm Tanbatsu Noriyuki, Third Chair of Eighth Squad. And this guy right here…"

He jerked a thumb over at the man who had accompanied him. The other Death God was just as slim as Noriyuki, and of almost the exact same height, both just under six feet. Instead of wild black hair the other Death God's hair was pulled back into a long ponytail that extended about two feet down his back. And instead of blue eyes, his were a vibrant green color with glasses on the bridge of his nose. And…he was staring up at a cloud.

"This is Sanman Nonki, Fourth Chair of Eighth Squad. He and I are going to be keeping you guys safe today, so I hope you all enjoy yourself as we go and face those Hollows. Okay folks, let's get these doors open and get this thing into action!" He turned away from the students, walked up to his subordinate, slapped his hand on the other Death God's shoulder and whispered something into his ear. Immediately the two burst out laughing.

Suddenly the entire student body had a very bad feeling about their physical safety.

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The forty or so Death Gods in-training had been paired up in groups of three and were now scattered all around a massive area that composed their Hollow Hunting Grounds. Now that they were all spread out, it was time to begin. "You got the bait Nonki-kun?"

The Death God in question was currently bent over, peering at a little beetle that was pushing a leaf across the ground. Noticing that his long-time partner wasn't paying attention Noriyuki reached out with his foot and poked his subordinate in the head. "Oi, Nonki-kun. You got the bait right?"

Nonki reached into an inner pocket of his Death God robes and pulled out a small object of just about an inch in diameter, that looked something like a coin. Casually he flicked it at Noriyuki, who snatched it out of the air. "Thanks, I forgot mine."

"Tessa reminded me to bring it, sokay." With that out of the way he returned to examining the beetle, which was still doing exactly what it had been seconds previous. Noriyuki shook his head, grinning as he did so. He'd never understand his friend's interest with such random simple things, but he knew that the Fourth Chair Death God enjoyed investigating things like that, so he let it be.

"Okay, here we go." Crumbling the Hollow Bait in his hand and clicking the start button on an antiquated stop watch at the same time was the signal for the start of the session. Soon the Hollows would show up, and it was up to the three man teams to deal with as many of these low level Hollows as they could within the set time limit.

Of course performance was gauged not just on how many Hollows you managed to kill, but on a number of things. Noriyuki was just glad that he wasn't in charge of the evaluation process, because his memory was terrible and he had already forgotten how they were evaluated. "I remember when we did this, it was a lot of fun and we killed a bunch of Hollows, didn't we Hibashira?"

He smiled, patting the hilt of the zanpaktou sheathed at his waist. Even though he enjoyed a good fight, and enjoyed slaying Hollows, he hoped that he wouldn't be forced to draw his sword this night. If he did, that would mean that something had gone wrong, and a Hollow of too high a class had been attracted by the bait. "Well, we can't worry about it can we? Guess we just see what happens, right?"

Even though Nonki said nothing, Noriyuki grinned as he got a response, one that only he could hear. Then he tilted his head to the side, still grinning in an almost eerie manner that anyone who knew the Captains would recognize as being nearly identical to Third Squad's Captain. "They're here…the sound of Hollows is like a…thing that…ummm…"

He paused, considering his words, even though nobody seemed to be listening. "Like a song thingy. Yeah, a song. But not a good song, cause Hollows ain't in tune or nothing. Pretty outta tune actually. Bad song…strings out of place…umm…loud at least. Yeah, like a bad loud outta tune song, that sounds right."

If any of the trainees had heard this they would have feared even more for their health.

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"Kyaa!" The battle cry accompanied one of the Death Gods in-training slashing his zanpaktou through the mask of a relatively small Hollow, the weakest kind, just about Demi-Hollows. Seconds later the Hollow faded away, purified by the sword.

The trainee landed fleetly on the ground, holding his zanpaktou at an angle in front of his chest. He glanced around, reaching out with his senses for the nearest Hollow. There were a lot around, but a number of them were already in combat with other three man teams. "We should move on, there aren't any more of these wimpy Hollows in the area."

He turned back to his two teammates, looking imperiously down at them as he gracefully sheathed his sword. And it was all to easy to look down at them, because both of them were significantly shorter than he was. "Togo, Yusei, let's get going. Don't lag behind like last time and make me deal with the Hollows on my own. Pull your weight or I'll leave you behind completely."

The shy and terribly short Togo bowed his head in shame, having been unable to even harm the last three Hollows they had faced. And he felt terrible around these two, because he was still shorter than Marimaya Yusei, and she was a very petite girl, just barely five feet in height. "Sorry Itachi-san, it won't happen again."

Yusei frowned at the obedient Togo, once again annoyed by how easily he let Yataru Itachi walk all over him, even if the guy was the top of their entire year. She sighed and brushed a strand of her long black hair out of her eyes, not bothering to tie it up in the bun she usually had. That had fallen apart after the first Hollow fight, so there was no point fixing it. "Let's just get going okay? We don't want other teams to pull ahead of us, do we?"

Itachi rolled his eyes and shoved his hands into his sleeves, folding his arms across his chest in a very confident manner. "They couldn't if I didn't have you two dragging me down. We all know that I'm already guaranteed a spot in the Gotei-13. And perhaps even a seated position, whereas you two…there's no way you'll be accepted into the Gotei-13 or the Secret Mobile Corps."

"Gee, that ain't very nice of you, right Itachi-kun?" Itachi's hazel eyes widened a fraction as he suddenly felt a powerful presence directly behind him. Turning on his heel he found himself face to face with Eighth Division's Third Chair.

Itachi composed himself, ignoring his spluttering teammates and focusing purely on the high ranked Death God standing in front of him. Compared to the wild and untamed hair that Noriyuki was sporting his own was short, and there was only a little bit at the back which he tied into a little tail. "I'm merely giving my teammates incentive to try harder. If they don't, they can't succeed."

The Third Chair continued to grin, giving Itachi a very odd feeling. He had met Third Squad Captain Ichimaru Gin just once and had gotten the feeling that whatever Ichimaru was smiling about wasn't what other people were smiling about. Tanbatsu Noriyuki gave him exactly the same feeling. "That so? Well, carry on but…just telling ya now, they check for teamwork on these tests."

"Ah…yes sir. We'll be going now." Together the three trainees ran off in the direction of the closest Hollow. Noriyuki watched them go, still grinning from ear to ear. He had left Nonki back at their starting point, as the Death God had started examining a bird's nest and was busy. As for himself, he had to enjoy himself somehow, so he was jaunting around and watching the teams face off against Hollows.

"Ooo, and some of these kids are pretty good too. That Itachi-kun is kinda insensitive, but still talented. He'd get along fine with Sixth Squad Captain-kun. Or maybe Midget-kun!" He laughed at his own joke, and then looked off to his left, where he could feel another team in close combat with a Hollow.

"Away we go! Whee!" He hopped into the air and then vanished without a trace. He returned to the ground shortly afterwards, standing about twenty feet away from another three person team facing off against a Hollow.

He watched them carefully, eyes half closed as the three trainees circled the Hollow. Their target was about ten feet in height and had four legs, as well as a mask with bull-like horns. It sure smelled like a Hollow. "Let's see how this batch do. Bet they have fun."

One of the trainees rushed in from the Hollow's left side, making a feint at the Hollow's foreleg. Obviously that was their intent, as the Hollow whirled on the trainee, bringing its focus completely on that one student. As soon as its back was turned the other two trainees were off like bullets from a gun. "Awww, they don't see it's luring them in. The first guy is gonna get hurt like this."

Just as he had predicted the moment the two trainees were in range the Hollow reared up on its front legs and kicked back with its cloven hind legs. Those two powerful feet caught the students in the chests and sent them flying backwards. They hit the ground on their backs and slid to a stop a dozen feet away from the Hollow.

The first one used his zanpaktou to stop the Hollow as it tried to bite him, but the sword against its teeth wouldn't hold the monster back for long. And as the trainee's grip weakened the Hollow pulled back, causing the student to stumble forwards. Instantly the Hollow plunged one of its horns toward the student's exposed chest, intent on goring him.

The Hollow's glee at the possibility of consuming a soul of such a decent level of spiritual density was cut short when its horn stopped less than a foot away from the trainee's chest. "Now now, can't have you killing somebody I'm entrusted to, right Hollow-kun?"

The Hollow couldn't believe its eyes. There, with one hand casually holding his horn, was a fully dressed Death God, whose spiritual density was great enough that it couldn't understand how it had missed the power before. "Death God! Release me, or I'll eat your soul!"

To the Hollow's surprise, this only caused the Death God's grin to grow wider. "Nah, can't do that Hollow-kun. Besides, you don't even know where my soul's been, right? For all you know it's…dirty."

"Brat, I'll gore you and then eat your soul for your insolence! Die, Death God!" The Hollow jerked its head back to free its horn from the Death God's grasp, intent on getting it free and stabbing the Death God with it once it could. But instead of this working out, its horn didn't even budge from the Death God's grasp.

"Sorry Hollow-kun, I ain't like these guys. A non-seated Death God could defeat a wimpy Hollow like you. And I'm Third Squad's Third Chair!" The three trainees he had saved stopped being impressed and sweat dropped, unable to believe the words he had spoken.

The one standing behind him took a stab at it and spoke up. "Umm…sir…you're in Eighth Squad."

There was a distinct pause as this sunk in, and then finally Noriyuki spoke. "Ah…yeah, guess you're right. How uncool…I forgot again. Guess you don't want an opponent who forgets his own squad, do you Hollow-kun? So how about you give these three another try and see how it goes?"

He released the Hollow's horn, and it took several steps way, eying the Death God warily. "I…I'll accept it. You'd probably taste horrible anyways, idiots can't taste good! I'll devour these three instead!"

It began to charge for its original target, only to have a zanpaktou slide through the back of its head, cracking the mask in half. The first trainee ran forward and delivered the killing blow, slashing the Hollow's head in half horizontally. In seconds the Hollow's body had faded away. "Good work you three! Next time though, remember that Hollow's were human once, so they ain't necessarily stupid. Right?"

All three of them nodded dumbly, and then their Death God protector vanished without another word, leaving them standing there. Finally one of them spoke. "Guess…guess he really is a real Death God like he said."

"Yeah."

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Itachi pierced his zanpaktou into the Hollow's chest, and then jumped away just in time to avoid its swinging meaty fists. This was their ninth Hollow, and they were growing tired, and this was one was stronger than the previous ones. It looked like a monster Hollow gorilla, with fists the size of a man's head.

From the Hollow's right side Togo came charging in, his face alight with fear as he swung his zanpaktou in an unfocused arc. Itachi gritted his teeth, knowing that any second now the Hollow would beat the weakling aside with one huge fist, knocking him out. "That idiot, if he doesn't focus himself and become resolved to cut his opponent then he'll never harm a Hollow!"

Just as he predicted the Hollow made a wide sweeping motion with one arm, intent on catching Togo right in the stomach. But before its arm connected a small figure jumped out from behind Togo, going right over his head and landing on the arm. It was none other than Yusei, who stabbed her zanpaktou down through the arm, slashing the hand off. The Hollow threw back its head and roared in anger. "They…planned it?"

Yusei shot a look over at Itachi, signaling him with her eyes. Immediately he understood and ran as fast as he could at the Hollow's unguarded back. Once he was within range he jumped up to its height and cleaved through its head and mask with his sword. "Die Hollow!"

The Hollow's body evaporated, allowing him to drop into a crouch where it had been standing just seconds before, now breathing slightly harder than before. "You…planned your attack on the Hollow?"

Yusei flicked a strand of her long black hair out of her eyes, glaring at Itachi with her brilliant blue eyes as she sheathed her zanpaktou. "Of course we planned it. Togo admitted to me that he wasn't great in combat, so he'd rather be a distraction, so we worked it that way. After that Noriyuki guy said we were judged on teamwork, we decided it was best to make a plan of action."

Itachi frowned, knowing that they were right. Certainly he could defeat these weakling Hollows on his own, at least for a while, but it wouldn't continue for long. Facing them one on one was draining him of strength. And even though he was already promised a place in the Gotei-13 since he was the best in the class, it would be a good idea for him to show the ability to work as a team. _'I suppose if I wanted a good seated position on a squad I'll have to show that I can work with my teammates, even if they're losers like these two.'_

"Fine, we're running low on time anyways. Let's try and make it an even ten Hollows before the timer ticks down to the end. I'm sure we've got the highest number killed for any group anyways. And this time, we'll do it your way, with teamwork." He reached out with his senses, searching for the closest Hollow, once again trying to avoid those that were already fighting.

"There's one about half a kilometer to the west." He stopped his scanning, and turned to look back at Togo. Even the short Death God trainee looked surprised that he had spoken.

Itachi looked out to the west, focusing his senses, and then finally discerned it. The Hollow was near where the two actual Death Gods were, so he hadn't been able to pick it up at first, dwarfed as it was by their power. _'This guy was able to sense a Hollow that I couldn't? Is his spiritual awareness actually higher than mine, or did I just skip over the Hollow at first because of those two Death Gods?'_

"Then that's the one. I'm sure those two won't kill the Hollow, and it's probably not stupid enough to attack them. Though, if it's near them, why hasn't it retreated to Hueco Mundo?" Yusei and Togo shrugged, neither one quite sure what to make of it themselves. Perhaps the answer was simply that by now a spiritual barrier had been set up in the perimeter to keep the Hollows from retreating.

Together, without another word, they started to run in the Hollow's direction. It was their number ten, probably the last Hollow they would have a chance to fight before their time for the test ran out. And Itachi was determined to get at least ten. _'I'm the best student of my year, and I will be the best Death God of my year as well! Give me half a century and I'll become a Captain!'_

They leapt through the trees, moving at the best speed they could in order to catch the Hollow before it could leave. Chasing the Hollow wouldn't be the greatest idea that was for sure. _'Half a century, I'd stake my reputation on it!'_

Their team jumped down from the trees to a bazaar site. A Hollow with a body like a praying mantis was thrashing wildly, its clawed arms being held in a steady grip by the two Death Gods. And…they were talking to each other as if the Hollow wasn't even there. _'Is this what Death Gods at that level are capable of? Incredible!'_

At the group's approach the two Death Gods looked up from their conversation, and as their bodies moved Itachi was able to see why they had been sitting across from each other. They had been playing a game of Shogo! "Oi, take a look Nonki-kun, its that Itachi-kun, Yusei-chan, and Midget-kun's rival in height."

Nonki looked at them, adjusting his glasses with the hand that wasn't holding the Hollow's claw. "Hello! Did you want to fight the Hollow?" Dumbly the three of them nodded, not quite sure what to make of the scene.

As soon as they nodded Noriyuki and Nonki released their hold on the Hollow and turned back to the game. Noriyuki sighed and cupped his chin in his hands. "Now that there isn't the distraction of the Hollow, I can win this game. You'll never be able to perform as well without a distraction Nonki-kun. Victory is as good as mine, right?"

The other Death God peered to the right, and his eyes lit up. "Ooo, a stick bug!" Noriyuki snapped his fingers and pouted. Without paying attention Nonki then moved one of the pieces, and after a good look at the board, Noriyuki threw his hands up.

"I lose again! Crap!" The three trainees were snapped out of their daze by the shriek of the Hollow, which was now charging directly at them, clawed arms already swinging, aching to bite into their tender flesh.

Itachi analyzed the Hollow, and then, realizing that it was about twenty feet in height and very dangerous, he came to a conclusion. The reason those two Death Gods had been restraining this Hollow was because…it wasn't the lowest class of Hollow. "This thing's spiritual power is…beyond all the other Hollows we've faced! Spread out and be careful!"

All three moved out, into they formed a triangle around the Hollow. Its eyes glowed red through the mask as it looked them over, determining where to attack first. And with great deliberation it marked its target and leapt to the left. At the weakest member of their group, Togo.

Togo stared up at the approaching Hollow, his mind encompassed by the sheer spiritual pressure of the monstrosity. His hands shook on the hilt of his zanpaktou, and his body locked in place. Without a doubt he knew that he was going to die.

_'Move, move, move, move, move! I don't want to die!'_

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Author's Note: Yeah, I've never done a Bleach fic before, but I thoroughly enjoy the anime and manga, and somehow (despite having lots of other stuff to do) I found myself drawn to writing this, and here it is. Hope you all enjoy.

_A zanpaktou is only one of the things a Death God must master in order to be effective in combat against Hollows. When next our class meets we'll look into the second method a Death God can use to face Hollows._

_Next time: Practical Demon Arts Usage for the Common Death God!_


	2. Practical Demon Arts Usage

Disclaimer: I don't own any aspect of Bleach. It is owned by Kubo Tite. I do however own all the original characters that appear in this chapter, with the exception of Sanman Nonki.

**Chapter Two: Practical Demon Arts Usage for the Common Death God**

_At the group's approach the two Death Gods looked up from their conversation, and as their bodies moved Itachi was able to see why they had been sitting across from each other. They had been playing a game of Shogo! "Oi, take a look Nonki-kun, its that Itachi-kun, Yusei-chan, and Midget-kun's rival in height."_

_Nonki looked at them, adjusting his glasses with the hand that wasn't holding the Hollow's claw. "Hello! Did you want to fight the Hollow?" Dumbly the three of them nodded, not quite sure what to make of the scene._

_As soon as they nodded Noriyuki and Nonki released their hold on the Hollow and turned back to the game. Noriyuki sighed and cupped his chin in his hands. "Now that there isn't the distraction of the Hollow, I can win this game. You'll never be able to perform as well without a distraction Nonki-kun. Victory is as good as mine, right?"_

_The other Death God peered to the right, and his eyes lit up. "Ooo, a stick bug!" Noriyuki snapped his fingers and pouted. Without paying attention Nonki then moved one of the pieces, and after a good look at the board, Noriyuki threw his hands up._

_"I lose again! Crap!" The three trainees were snapped out of their daze by the shriek of the Hollow, which was now charging directly at them, clawed arms already swinging, aching to bite into their tender flesh._

_Itachi analyzed the Hollow, and then, realizing that it was about twenty feet in height and very dangerous, he came to a conclusion. The reason those two Death Gods had been restraining this Hollow was because…it wasn't the lowest class of Hollow. "This thing's spiritual power is…beyond all the other Hollows we've faced! Spread out and be careful!"_

_All three moved out, into they formed a triangle around the Hollow. Its eyes glowed red through the mask as it looked them over, determining where to attack first. And with great deliberation it marked its target and leapt to the left. At the weakest member of their group, Togo._

_Togo stared up at the approaching Hollow, his mind encompassed by the sheer spiritual pressure of the monstrosity. His hands shook on the hilt of his zanpaktou, and his body locked in place. Without a doubt he knew that he was going to die._

_'Move, move, move, move, move! I don't want to die!'_

Togo's limbs felt like heavy weights as the Hollow's blade-like arm came swinging down at him. Thoughts began to fade way as he saw his approaching demise. _"Useless."_

He jumped to the left and took a swing at the Hollow's arm, slashing a red line across it. The Hollow shrieked and drew its arm back, bringing the other one swinging down at him. To the Hollow's further surprise Togo did a back-flip to avoid the swing and landed a handful of feet away.

His feet skidded along the grass and he used his left hand to brace himself and stop his movement. His right hand hefted his zanpaktou, angling it diagonally in front of his face as a guard for potential attacks. The Hollow shrieked again and brought its injured arm swinging down towards Togo.

The swift descent of the bladed arm jerked and slowed, giving Togo time to raise his sword to block it. A quick glance out of the corner of his eyes showed him why the Hollow had slowed. Yusei had stabbed her sword into its backside, and the pain had caught it off guard.

From the opposite side Itachi came charging in and jumped straight at the Hollow's mask. It pulled away from Togo, making Itachi sail past it. Then to Yusei's surprise it scuttled backwards towards a tree, aiming her body at it. "Shit!"

She pulled her sword out of its back and jumped to the right side, ducking and rolling as she went. She came up into a crouch and raised her sword just in time to block a swing from the Hollow's right arm. Despite blocking it the force was enough to send her flying backwards.

Itachi scowled and bit his lip, his eyes scanning the Hollow, looking for an opening. _'Damn…its reach is much greater than ours, meaning it becomes harder to get in. And its body is well armored and too large for single stabs and slashes to do real damage. We'd have to finish it in one strike to get out of this alive. So…how?'_

He felt the intense desire to be able to release his sword, but he still didn't know his blade's name, making it impossible. Until he at least figured that out there was nothing he could do. _'Alright, let's examine our options.'_

His eyes darted to his left, where Togo remained in a crouch his sword held at guard. _'Togo is the weakest amongst us, the slowest, worst at swordsmanship…yet in terms of spiritual awareness he seems to be better than I am. And from what I know he's not too bad at demon arts either. Here his greatest strength is that the Hollow knows that he's the weakest amongst us.'_

Next his eyes moved to the opposite side of the Hollow, which was shifting and examining them, to Yusei. _'Yusei is stronger and more skilled than Togo, but not at my level. In terms of the four schools of Death God abilities she is most talented at demon arts. Perhaps superior to me.'_

He lifted his left hand and stared at his palm, then flicked his eyes back and forth between his two teammates, putting two and two together. _'The only area of talent the three of us share is the demon arts. If those two have enough power together then…then I just might have the opening I need!'_

Chuckling to himself he stood up to his full height and slung his zanpaktou over his right shoulder. With his left hand he beckoned to the Hollow. "Come weakling, let's end this."

The Hollow turned its attention towards him and readied its bladed arms. "You call me weak? You're not even a Death God yet! Talking to me like that, I'll eat you for that arrogance!"

It began to rush towards him, both arms arched out far to the side to let it attack from each side of Itachi. Yusei began to charge towards its back, while Togo just stared. He shot a glance at Togo and shouted as quickly as he could. "Togo, your sword now!"

The short spirit blinked and without thinking chucked his sword towards his teammate. Itachi smirked at seeing the look of surprise on the Hollow's face as he snatched the other zanpaktou out of the air and crossed them over his chest, blocking each arm. "Hollow…this is the end!"

He shoved with both swords with all of his strength. Once they were sufficiently away from his body he jerked them up and then stabbed down, piercing through what could be called the wrist of the Hollow's arms. Each arm was pierced into the ground, a mere temporary hindrance to the beast's strength. "O Lord, Mask of Flesh and Bone, All Creation, Flutter of Wings…"

The Hollow pulled at its bonds, the swords creaking up and out of the ground bit by bit. Itachi had to time this correctly or he'd never pull it off. "Ye Who Bears the name of Man, Truth and Temperance, upon this sinless wall of dreams unleash but slightly the wrath of your claws!"

He cupped his hands together and pointed them at the Hollow's mask and smirked confidently. "Way of Destruction Thirty-Three-Blue Fireball!"

A sphere of blue spiritual energy exploded from his hands and crossed the distance between him and the Hollow in mere seconds. It struck the Hollow's mask head-on and then detonated. "Now who's weak?"

The force of the blast allowed the Hollow to wrench its arms free, but that only allowed it to stumble backwards, its face smoking and its mask severely cracked. Itachi slumped to his knees, weakened by the use of much of what remained of his own spiritual power. "Togo, hold the Hollow fast! Yusei, strike the finishing blow!"

Togo blinked and then raised his arms, making elaborate gestures as he swept his hands through the air as if painting calligraphy. "Sweeping river, rock of the mountain, ageless sky, countenance of the beast…."

He finished by clapping his hands together as if in prayer and stared directly at the Hollow. "Way of Binding 23-Chains of the Underworld!"

Black chains erupted out of the ground and wrapped around the base of the Hollow's body, as well as its legs and arms. They dragged it down, pushing it straight against the ground. It looked impressive, but Itachi could already seen Togo shaking as he tried to maintain the chains against the spiritual pressure the Hollow was exerting. _'Let it hold…please!'_

Yusei hopped up onto its back and ran along the spine, avoiding the chains that would get in her way. When she reached the head she raised her zanpaktou up and then stabbed it down into the base of the neck. "This time, the finishing blow is mine!"

She dragged her sword up through the top of its skull, effectively cutting the Hollow's head in half. It shrieked one last time before its body dissipated like mist, leaving no trace that it had ever been there.

With nothing to support her Yusei tumbled to the ground. Shortly after Togo banished the chains and fell to his knees, panting from the exertion. Itachi looked at the two other Death Gods in trainee and couldn't help but smile. "It seems that maybe I underestimated you two."

Togo put his hands to his heart and shuddered. "I can't believe I actually managed to react to that Hollow. I thought I was about to die…again. I think I soiled myself."

Itachi frowned with distaste and looked away from the short trainee. "Well, at the very least I underestimated one of you."

Yusei grinned half-heartedly, but managed a better show of it than either of her two teammates as she had expended herself the least. "You're damned right you underestimated me. And Togo too."

The boy shot another look at Togo, then stood and sheathed his sword. "If you say so. I'm not quite sure."

Togo stood and brushed himself off, his body still shaking. He looked up in surprise when something was presented to him, taking up his field of view. It was none other than Itachi, who was holding Togo's own zanpaktou out. "Thanks for the assistance. I'm glad you were able to react in time, as that wouldn't have worked without your sword."

The short boy blushed and took his sword, then clumsily sheathed it. "It…it was nothing."

Itachi looked down his nose at Togo and then with a snort he turned away. "Yeah, probably."

To his surprise he was immediately smacked upside the head by Yusei, who had crossed the distance in a surprisingly timely manner. "Don't be such an ass. There's no way at our current level any of us could have beaten that Hollow without help. We could have died if we didn't work together!"

"Not really. Or had you forgotten those two bumbling idiots?" He jerked a thumb over his shoulder, pointing at the two seated Death Gods who were busy playing another game, Noriyuki wildly gesturing at something Nonki had done.

"Those two may be idiots, but they've still got enough spiritual power to squash that Hollow like it really were a big praying mantis. We were never in any real danger to begin with, not as long as those two were around." Yusei looked over Itachi's shoulder at the two Death Gods and frowned, not feeling quite that reassured.

Almost as if on queue the two Death Gods rose to their feet. Noriyuki snapped his pocket watch shut and tucked it back into his hakama. He then withdrew a vial of ink and dabbed it on his fingers, then made an almost snake-like pattern on each of his arms. "Here we go…"

Noriyuki jammed his hands forwards and a rectangle made of black energy formed in front of him, with another smaller one on the inside of it. "The net of black and white, footprints, far lightning, sharp peak, engulfing land, dark night, cloudy seas, blue division…"

The two rectangles began to glow brighter and brighter with each word that he spoke. "Form a circle and fly through the heavens, Way of Binding 58 Second Pattern-Heaven's Fortress!"

Itachi, Yusei, and Togo all jerked their heads up as they felt something touch their minds. All across the chosen area the Death God trainees were looking up at the same time as they too felt a connection. Noriyuki grinned broadly and nodded to Nonki, who barely seemed to be paying attention. "Connection complete."

Now black lines of energy had shunted off from the main rectangles and made a massive pattern in mid-air. "Everybody out there trainee, come to where you can sense my spiritual force. The session is over, so come on in. If you got trouble, just shoot some sorta demon art attack into the air and myself or my subordinate will be on our way to help out."

He pulled his hands away from the rectangle and the black lines retreated into it. Once the lines were fully part of the rectangle again those too faded away, and the ink on Noriyuki's arms also vanished. "Connection broken. And that's all my work for today."

Yusei stared at the grinning Death God and couldn't help but feel a tingle run through her body. _'So easily he pulled off that higher level Way of Binding, and so fast too! And the way he stared down Itachi, and held that Hollow with one hand…'_

She barely noticed the blush that blossomed on her cheeks as she stared at Noriyuki, who was already busy talking to his partner again, the two smiling and laughing. _'I wonder…is Eighth Squad the place for me maybe?'_

"Oi, what are you blushing about?" She yelped and jerked out of her trance at the sound of Itachi's voice. She spun around, embarrassed at having been seen blushing by the other trainee. He was staring at her, his face speaking of volumes of confusion.

"It…it was nothing!" Itachi snorted and shoved his hands into his sleeves, spinning on his heel and walking towards Noriyuki and Nonki.

"Whatever. Freaking women."

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It was time at long last. All of their training, all of the time spent in these halls. All of it was about to be worth it for many of them. Today was the day they had graduated, and therefore today was that special day. Selection Day.

Today they would gather in the Hall of Reflection and stand to watch as they were inspected by the highest of the high in Soul Society. Today they would meet the thirteen mightiest of the mighty. The captains of the Gotei-13!

Itachi was well aware that such a meeting would be brief, at least at first. The Captains were scheduled to sweep through the hall in a wave of glorious power and then enter an entirely separate room. There they would review the records of the trainees and make their selections.

Any that they were considering for officer selection would be interviewed. That would be the only other time they would directly meet a Captain, unless of course they were actually accepted into a squad. The one aspect of the selection process that Itachi didn't know was how a decision was made if more than one Captain wanted a trainee for their squad. _'Watch them bicker over me like children!'_

He tensed as the air itself suddenly felt thicker than oil. His breath came shallow under the monstrous pressure, and he had enough sense to know that what he was feeling right now was not the full power of a Captain. _'What…is this their level of power while suppressing their strength?'_

His question was answered as one by one the Captains of the Gotei-13 swept into the Hall of Reflection. All two hundred graduates shuddered under the pressure of the power there. _'What incredible power!'_

As they passed by he heard a white haired captain at the very end of the line speaking calmly to a massive scarred man with spiked hair. "Zaraki, you need to suppress your power more than this, you'll hurt the students if you keep putting out this much."

The huge captain snorted, tromping along with his left hand on the hilt of his sword. "Che, if these wimps can't handle this much power then they don't belong in the eleventh squad. You can have any of the fucking pansies who pass out."

Then they were gone, out of Itachi's sight. As soon as the captains entered the private room he felt as if a massive weight had been lifted from his shoulders. _'So all of that huge spiritual power came from just one captain who wasn't fully suppressing his power?'_

He turned his palms up and looked down at them, barely noticing that they were shaking. "That much power…that is the power of a Captain of the Gotei-13. That is the power that one day I will possess, the power to make lesser Death Gods fall to their knees at your very presence."

His fists clenched together and he turned his head to stare at the room where they were meeting. "I will become a Captain, no matter what!"

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Author's Note: Well I know it has been a long wait since the last chapter, but this story is basically sidelined for the most part while I work on other projects. But I just happened to be in a very 'Bleach' mood and unable to work on anything else, so I did this. Its shorter than the last chapter, but chapter length will vary and I feel fine about the way this came out.

_The Gotei-13, the living machine of war that keeps Soul Society going. The military force of Soul Society where virtually all Death Gods end up. Becoming a seated member on one of the squads of the Gotei-13 is a feat many wish for. Now our students will see just what it takes to become a seated member of one of these illustrious military squads._

_Next time: Welcome to the Machine_


End file.
